The Golden Triangle Regional (GTR) Airport is proud to welcome Ms. Victoria (Tori) Lightner from O’Fallon, MO, and Mr. Jack Hene from Gainesville, GA, to the airport team this summer. Tori and Jack were selected from a list of candidates as GTR Airport’s newest summer interns. The airport’s internship program was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Southeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives.

“We are excited to have both Tori and Jack working with us this summer,” said Mike Hainsey, GTR’s Executive Director. “They will bring a new insight into our operations while learning what happens at an airport our size.”

Victoria Lightner is a junior majoring in International Business at Mississippi State University. Jack Hene is a senior majoring in Aviation Management at Delta State University. Their internships will follow a formal curriculum that will count as course credit at both Mississippi State and Delta State. During the program at GTR they will be exposed to every aspect of the regional airport, including airport operations, economic development, marketing and all areas of running an airport. They will also tour airports of different sizes, including Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport as well as Starkville’s George M. Bryan Airport. Finally, they will have the opportunity to visit several of the industries on and adjacent to the airport to see how the airport interacts with the businesses to meet their needs.

“We think it is important to train our future airport managers here at home,” said Hainsey. “Our internship program will do just that.”